US Left statement opposing attacks on Iraqi trade unions

LFIQ does not endorse all the views expressed in this statement from the New York based Campaign for Peace and Democracy but we welcome the clear message of opposition to Hadi's killers from the heart of the US left (AJ)

The following statement is being circulated by the Campaign for Peace and Democracy (CPD) in response to the murder of Hadi Salih and attacks on other Iraqi trade unionists. CPD has a long history of supporting democratic rights, including workers’ rights, everywhere. During the Cold War, it campaigned on behalf of both dissidents within the Soviet bloc and popular forces struggling against U.S. imperial power and its clients in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere.

Since the first Gulf War, the Campaign stood in opposition both to U.S. aggression against Iraq and to the bloody regime of Saddam Hussein. Since the recent war and the occupation of Iraq, CPD has been part of the antiwar movement in the United States, calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. At the same time, the Campaign has argued against the position, held by many antiwar activists, that it is necessary to give indiscriminate support to all the elements in the Iraqi resistance, including those authoritarian and oppressive military groups masquerading as liberation forces. CPD is committed to a democratic Iraq and sees the struggle against the U.S. occupation as part and parcel of a democratic solution to that country’s long martyrdom.

The Campaign for Peace and Democracy believes that trade unions are a critical, central element in the fight for a decent and democratic Iraq, and it has just launched a campaign to condemn attacks on Iraqi trade unionists, including but not limited to the assassination of Hadi Salih. The text of the statement is below.

Circulation of the statement began only on January 23, and already more than 450 people have signed, including Stanley Aronowitz, Medea Benjamin, Norman Birnbaum, Eileen Boris, Marc Cooper, Richard Deats, Daniel Ellsberg, Barry Finger, Barbara Garson, Jill Godmilow, Gary Groth, Mina Hamilton, Thomas Harrison, Doug Henwood, Adam Hochschild, Doug Ireland, Joanne Landy, Hany Khalil, Jesse Lemisch, Nelson Lichtenstein, Betty Reid Mandell, Marvin Mandell, David McReynolds, Timothy Mitchell, David Oakford, Mike Parker, Glenn Perusek, Katha Pollitt, Nancy Romer, Matthew Rothschild, Jennifer Scarlott, Lynne Schwartz, Sunil Sharma, Adam Shatz, Alan Sokal, Chris Toensing, Jay Schaffner, Juanita Webster, Immanuel Wallerstein and Naomi Weisstein. (Affiliations and identifications of these and the other signatories can be found on the Campaign for Peace and Democracy website, www.cpdweb.org, where individuals from the U.S. and around the world are invited to add their names.)

----Joanne Landy, Thomas Harrison, Jennifer Scarlott, Co-Directors, CPD

CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY STATEMENT
OPPONENTS OF THE OCCUPATION CONDEMN ATTACKS ON IRAQI TRADE UNIONISTS

We, who opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq and who call for an immediate end to the occupation of that country, are appalled by the torture and assassination in Baghdad on January 4, 2005 of Hadi Salih, International Officer of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). There are also disturbing reports of intimidation, death threats and murders targeting other IFTU members, trade unionists in general, and political activists.

We utterly condemn the assassination of Hadi Salih. We call upon all sides in the conflict in Iraq to respect the rights of non-combatants as required by international law and to recognize the rights of workers to organize freely, without threat or harm, in trade unions of their own choosing in accordance with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards.

We believe that the physical targeting of trade unionists is in no way politically or morally acceptable, even though we disagree strongly with the IFTU's support of UN Resolution 1546, which supports the U.S. military presence in Iraq. This resolution has been used by the Bush Administration to justify keeping U.S. troops in the country.

We also oppose the victory of those elements of the resistance whose agenda is to impose a repressive, authoritarian regime on the Iraqi people, whether that regime is Baathist or theocratic-fundamentalist. We do not know whether such authoritarian elements have gained decisive control over the resistance to the U.S. forces and their Iraqi and international allies. We do know, however, that the continuing occupation of Iraq, which grows more brutal with every passing day, only strengthens these elements, increases their influence over the resistance and makes their ultimate victory more likely.

We further oppose the occupation because it is part and parcel of an imperial U.S. foreign policy that shores up undemocratic regimes like those of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, gives one-sided support to Israel against the Palestinians, and promotes unjust, inequitable economic policies throughout the world. Not only in Iraq but throughout the Middle East and globally U.S. foreign and military policy either directly or indirectly subverts freedom and democracy.

For further information about the issue, please contact us at cpd@igc.org

To add your name or see the full list of signers, please go to www.cpdweb.org